why aren't ribbon tweeters more popular?


What is the downside to ribbon tweeters? I haven't had any in a long time (Phase Linear P580's, stolen, still miss them.) Ribbons offer great extension and speed; other than expense, what objectionable qualities limit their use?
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Showing 1 response by ptmconsulting

Ribbons can sound clear and transparent if you are there in the sweet spot. However, stand up above the ribbon location and your top end disappears quite a lot. They also don't seem to have the naturalness of a silk dome tweeter and, although fast sounding by themselves, they can sound a bit disconnected from the cone mid/bass driver.

However, silk domes vs metal domes also have their own inherent problems. There is no perfect picnic.